Citation Nr: 0506535
Decision Date: 03/08/05 Archive Date: 03/21/05
DOCKET NO. 01-04 442 ) DATE
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On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Cleveland,
Ohio
THE ISSUE
Entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD).
REPRESENTATION
Appellant represented by: The American Legion
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD
Christopher J. McEntee, Associate Counsel
INTRODUCTION
The veteran had active service from November 1967 to December
1969.
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals
(Board) on appeal from a rating decision dated in November
2000 of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional
Office (RO) in Cleveland, Ohio.
In June 2003, the Board denied the veteran's claim. By order
dated in September 2004, the United States Court of Appeals
for Veteran's Claims (Court) ordered this matter remanded to
the Board for further development.
The appeal is now REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals
Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC. VA will notify
you if further action is required on your part.
REMAND
In its order, the Court stated that VA failed to fulfill its
statutory duty to assist the veteran. The Court stated that
VA did not adequately assist the veteran in developing
evidence to corroborate alleged stressors noted in the claims
file. In particular, the Court noted that no attempt had
been made to request verification of the veteran's alleged
stressors from the U.S. Armed Services Center for Unit
Records and Research (CURR).
Since development includes obtaining stressor information, a
query to the CURR is necessary. If that agency is not able
to provide any stressor information claimed by the veteran, a
request should be made of the National Archives and Records
Administration as to whether that facility might have access
to any probative information.
In view of the foregoing, the Board believes that further
development is in order, and the case is REMANDED for the
following actions:
1. The CURR, 7798 Cissna Road, Suite
101, Springfield, VA 22150-3197, should
be contacted and asked to provide unit
records such as diaries, morning reports,
or command chronologies or any other
information pertaining to the veteran's
unit(s) during his duty in Vietnam. If
necessary, the National Archives and
Records Administration (or other
appropriate entity) should be requested
to provide any information including unit
histories, for the aforementioned unit at
the time of the veteran's assignment. If
the search efforts result in negative
results, documentation to that effect
should be placed in the claims file.
2. Following the aforementioned
development, the RO should review and
readjudicate the claim on appeal. If the
benefit sought is not granted, the
veteran and his representative should be
provided with a supplemental statement of
the case. This must contain notice of
all relevant actions taken on the claim
for benefits, to include a summary of the
evidence and applicable law and
regulations considered pertinent to the
issue on appeal. An appropriate period
of time should be allowed for response.
The purpose of this REMAND is to obtain additional
development. The Board does not intimate any opinion as to
the merits of the case, either favorable or unfavorable, at
this time. The veteran is free to submit any additional
evidence and/or argument he desires to have considered in
connection with his current appeal. See Kutscherousky v.
West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999). No action is required of the
veteran, however, until he is so notified.
This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment. The law
requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of
Veterans' Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals
for Veterans Claims for additional development or other
appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner.
See The Veterans Benefits Act of 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-183, §
707(a), (b), 117 Stat. 2651 (2003) (to be codified at 38
U.S.C. §§ 5109B, 7112).
_________________________________________________
John E. Ormond, Jr.
Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals
Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the
Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States
Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. This remand is in the
nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a
decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal.
38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (2004).